Rocky Long, who for 11 seasons as the head coach at New Mexico put San Diego State's football team through more torture than a carload of crash-test dummies, officially joined the other side yesterday when he was named the Aztecs' defensive coordinator by coach Brady Hoke.

Long, who resigned as head coach of the Lobos last month following the team's injury-plagued 4-8 finish, comes to SDSU having beaten the Aztecs eight straight times, including a 70-7 mauling in October that marked the third-worst loss in school history.

“My perception is that San Diego State could be a power in the Mountain West Conference,” said Long, who had an overall record of 9-2 against the Aztecs after being tabbed to succeed Dennis Franchione at New Mexico in 1998. “I've never been (to the SDSU campus) in person, so obviously I don't know what the problems have been in the past.

“But I have a lot of confidence in the way Brady does things and the way he'll have it organized and the way he'll recruit. It's going to give us a chance to be one of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference.”

Long, who worked with Hoke at Oregon State in the 1990s when the former served as defensive coordinator and the latter worked with the team's defensive line and inside linebackers, also will be reunited with Al Borges, who officially was named the Aztecs' offensive coordinator yesterday.

After leaving Oregon State, Long served as the defensive coordinator at UCLA in 1996 and '97. Borges was the Bruins' offensive coordinator from 1996-2000.

Borges, who spent four years at Auburn before being dismissed as the Tigers'offensive coordinator last year, did not coach this season. He said he had three offers from teams prior to the season that he considered “very good,” but none that he felt strongly enough about to relocate his wife, Nikki, who serves as the associate athletic director of marketing and media relations at Auburn.

“I told her after (the '07 season) that if we got the job we wanted, and we could justify moving, then I would go,” Borges said. “If we didn't get the job we wanted, I told her that I would be willing to sit a year, because I had another year left on my contract and she has a good job. I told her it would drive me crazy, but that I was willing to wait for a year to see if something better came along.

“This (SDSU) is a good job. If this job would have come up a year ago, I would have taken it.”

Neither Long, 58, nor Borges, 53, admitted to knowing a great deal about the team's personnel, though both are expected to be on campus next week.

Long, whose blitz-happy 3-3-5 defensive alignment has given MWC teams fits for years, is known for having achieved success with undersized players, a depiction arguably apt of SDSU's current defense. The Aztecs this season ranked 112th defensively among the nation's 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. They were 118th in rushing defense and allowed 30 or more points eight times.

Hoke, who has been a defensive coach throughout his career, said yesterday that he will work with the defensive line but that Long will have control over the entire defense.

“My vision is to find out who the 11 best players are on defense and structure the defense to fit those players,” said Long, whose New Mexico defense in 2007 ranked 13th in the country. “I think the 3-3-5 gives you a lot of flexibility and gives a lot of people a lot of problems with pass protection. But there's no reason to run a 3-3-5 if you don't have the personnel.

“I know (SDSU) has run a 4-3 for several years, so the first trick is go in there and evaluate the talent level at different positions, put the 11 best guys on the field and then recruit so that later on maybe you can go to the 3-3-5.”

Borges, who has a reputation as a quarterbacks guru, will inherit SDSU's centerpiece in sophomore Ryan Lindley, the league's second-leading passer a year ago. In his one season at Oregon, in 1995, the Ducks averaged 406.3 yards per game, with quarterback Tony Graziani leading the Pac-10 in total offense and passing. At UCLA, Borges helped develop Cade McNown into a first-team All-America and a first-round NFL draft pick. The Bruins averaged 31.9 points during Borges' tenure.

“Even if you're not the most prolific offensive team in the country, you can still win a lot of football games if you don't let your ego get in the way and you play to the strengths of your personnel,” Borges said. “My goal (with the offense) is to go out there and hold up your end every single week, to go out there and score 30-35 points and say that you did everything you possibly could to win the game. We're going to do whatever we have to do to win, that's the bottom line.”

Points after

Hoke said yesterday that he will honor all of the commitments given to SDSU by players comprising its 2009 recruiting class. The Aztecs, who have 17 scholarships available, have oral commitments from eight players thus far.

It's unlikely that Hoke will announce the remainder of his staff until his former team, Ball State, concludes its meeting with Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6. Hoke has not said whether any members of former coach Chuck Long's staff, other than director of football operations Bob Lopez, will be retained. Hoke's brother, Jon, an assistant at SDSU in 1997-98, was fired Tuesday as the defensive backs coach of the Houston Texans.